Configuring IPX

Enabling IPX Routing

The first step in enabling IPX routing is to enable it on the router. If you do not specify the node number of the router to be used on WAN links, the Cisco IOS software uses the hardware Media Access Control (MAC) address currently assigned to it as its node address. This is the MAC address of the first Ethernet, Token Ring, or FDDI interface card. If there are no valid IEEE interfaces, then the Cisco IOS software randomly assigns a node number using a number that is based on the system clock.

Enabling IPX on Individual Interfaces

After you have enabled IPX routing, you assign network numbers to individual interfaces. This enables IPX routing on those interfaces. You enable IPX routing on interfaces that support a single network or on those that support multiple networks. When you enable IPX routing on an interface, you can also specify an encapsulation (frame type) to use for packets being transmitted on that network.

Below lists the encapsulation types you can use on IEEE interfaces and shows the correspondence between Cisco naming conventions and Novell naming conventions for the encapsulation types.

Novell Frame Encapsulation

NetWare Frame Type

Cisco Keyword

Ethernet Frames

Ethernet_802.3

novell-ether (default)

Ethernet_802.2

sap

Ethernet_II

arpa

Ethernet_SNAP

snap

Token Ring Frames

Token-Ring

sap (default)

Token-Ring_snap

snap

FDDI Frames

Fddi_snap

snap (default)

Fddi_802.2

sap

Fddi_raw

novell-fddi

Enabling IPX on interfaces

A single interface can support a single network or multiple logical networks. For a single network, you can configure any encapsulation type. Of course, it should match the encapsulation type of the servers and clients using that network number.

To assign a network number to an interface that supports a single network, use the following syntaxipx network [network #] encapsulation [encapsulation-type]

The following is an example IPX network 2 on interface ethernet 0, with a frame type of Ethernet_II.

Multiple Frame Types

There are two ways to assign network numbers to interfaces that support multiple networks. You can use subinterfaces or primary and secondary networks.

Subinterfaces

You typically use subinterfaces to assign network numbers to interfaces that support multiple networks. A subinterface is a mechanism that allows a single physical interface to support multiple logical interfaces or networks. That is, several logical interfaces or networks can be associated with a single hardware interface. Each subinterface must use a distinct encapsulation, and the encapsulation must match that of the clients and servers using the same network number. Any interface configuration parameters that you specify on an individual subinterface are applied to that subinterface only.

To configure multiple IPX networks on a physical interface using subinterfaces, use the following syntaxinterface [type] [number.subinterface-number]ipx network [network] encapsulation [encapsulation-type]

The following is an example of 2 IPX networks on ethernet subinterfaces, with frame types of Ethernet_802.2 and Ethernet_802.3

When assigning network numbers to interfaces that support multiple networks, you can also configure primary and secondary networks. The first logical network you configure on an interface is considered the primary network. Any additional networks are considered secondary networks. Again, each network on an interface must use a distinct encapsulation and it should match that of the clients and servers using the same network number. Any interface configuration parameters that you specify on this interface are applied to all the logical networks. For example, if you set the routing update timer to 120 seconds, this value is used on all networks.

To use primary and secondary networks to configure multiple IPX networks on an interface, use the following syntax:ipx network [network] encapsulation [encapsulation-type]ipx network [network] encapsulation [encapsulation-type] [secondary]

The following is an example of a primary IPX network with Ethernet_sap encapsulation and a secondary IPX network on interface ethernet 0, with a frame type of Ethernet_snap.

Verifying the IPX routing Table

To view the IPX routing tables, use the command show ipx route. IPX routers only know about directly connected networks by default. However when you turned on IPX routing, RIP is automatically enabled.

Server information was learned using the incremental SAP capability in IPX EIGRP.

H

Server is believed to have gone down and the router will no longer advertise this server's services.

S

Statically defined server (via the ipx sap command).

Total IPX servers

Number of servers in the list.

Table order is based on routing and server info

Entries listed are based on the routing information associated with this SAP. Server information is used as a tie breaker.

Type

SAP service number.

Name

Server name.

Net

Network number of the server.

Address

Node address of the server.

Port

Socket number.

Route

Metric/hop count for the route to the network.

Hops

SAP-advertised number of hops from the router to the server's network.

Itf

Interface through which this server was first discovered.

Load Balancing with IPX

The ipx maximum-paths command is designed to increase throughput by allowing the router to choose among several equal-cost, parallel paths. (Note that when paths have differing costs, the router chooses lower-cost routes in preference to higher-cost routes.) IPX does load sharing on a packet-by-packet basis in round-robin fashion, regardless of whether you are using fast switching or process switching. That is, the first packet is sent along the first path, the second packet along the second path, and so on. When the final path is reached, the next packet is sent to the first path, the next to the second path, and so on.

Limiting the number of equal-cost paths can save memory on routers with limited memory or very large configurations. Additionally, in networks with a large number of multiple paths and systems with limited ability to cache out-of-sequence packets, performance might suffer when traffic is split between many paths.

To set the maximum number of equal-cost paths the router uses when forwarding packets, use the ipx maximum-paths Global Configuration command. To restore the default value of 1, use the no form of this command.

ipx maximum-paths [paths]
no ipx maximum-paths

Show IPX traffic

To display information about the number and type of IPX packets transmitted and received by the router, use the show ipx traffic EXEC command.

The following is sample output from the show ipx interface [type number] command, and gives you the interface status of IPX and IPX parameters configured on each interface. It also shows the IPX address and the encapsulation type.

Router3#show ipx interface ethernet 0
Ethernet0 is up, line protocol is up
IPX address is 1111.0000.0c01.d87a, NOVELL-ETHER [up], RIPPQ: 0, SAPPQ: 0
Secondary address is 2222.0000.0c01.d87a, SNAP [up]
Outgoing access list is not set
IPX type 20 propagation packet forwarding is disabled
IPX SAP update interval is 1 minute(s)
IPX Helper access list is not set
SAP Input filter list is not set
SAP Output filter list is not set
SAP Router filter list is not set
SAP GNS output filter list is not set
Input filter list is not set
Output filter list is not set
Router filter list is not set
Netbios Input host access list is not set
Netbios Input bytes access list is not set
Netbios Output host access list is not set
Netbios Output bytes access list is not set
Update time is 60 seconds
Delay of this interface, in ticks is 1
IPX Fast switching enabled

Show Protocols

Use the show protocols EXEC command to display the configured protocols. You can see the encapsulation types for primary and secondary interfaces, but not with subinterfaces as in the example below.

Router_2#show protocols
Global values:
Internet Protocol routing is enabled
IPX routing is enabled
Ethernet0 is up, line protocol is up
Internet address is 192.168.1.1/24
IPX address is 1.0000.0c8d.5c9d
IPX address is 2.0000.0c8d.5c9d
Serial0 is up, line protocol is up
Internet address is 10.128.22.3/24
Serial1 is administratively down, line protocol is down

Debug IPX

Use the debug ipx routing EXEC command to display information on IPX routing packets that the router sends and receives. The no form of this command disables debugging output.

Normally, a router or server sends out one routing update per minute. Each routing update packet can include up to 50 entries. If many networks exist on the internetwork, the router sends out
multiple packets per update. For example, if a router has 120 entries in the routing table, it would send three routing update packets per update. The first routing update packet would include the
first 50 entries, the second packet would include the next 50 entries, and the last routing update packet would include the last 20 entries.

events
(Optional) Limits amount of detailed output for SAP packets to those that contain interesting events.

Normally, a router or server sends out one SAP update per minute. Each SAP packet can include up to seven entries. If many servers are advertising on the network, the router sends out multiple packets per update. For example, if a router has 20 entries in the SAP table, it would send three SAP packets per update. The first SAP would include the first seven entries, the second SAP would include the next seven entries, and the last update would include the last six entries. Obtain the most meaningful detail by using the debug ipx sap activity and the debug ipx sap events commands together. Caution -because the debug ipx sap command can generate a lot of output; use it with caution on networks that have many interfaces and large service tables.